Gaels sink the champions to end title famine
Karl McKenna of Shamrock Gaels takes flight with Conor Burke of Coolera-Strandhill during last Sunday's Sligo SFC final replay in Quigibar, Enniscrone. Picture: Lauren Fitzgerald
Shamrock Gaels ended a 32-year drought as they produced a strong second-half performance to come away with the Owen B Hunt Cup.
The defining moment in the game came on 41 minutes when Leo Doherty was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident involving Conor Sheridan, before two late goals from Shane Deignan put the gloss on a hard-fought victory.
Coolera-Strandhill started the game brightly in what was a very tense and cagey opening half. They were awarded a penalty on six minutes as Niall Murphy floated the ball into Kevin Banks, who was then fouled by Oisin Conlon. The resulting penalty was taken by Murphy but he kicked his effort wide.
The opening score of the match came on seven minutes as Deignan pointed after the ball was tipped down by Niall Kenny. The sides were level for the first time on 11 minutes as he fisted the ball over after Mark McDaniel was involved in the attack.
Deignan restored the lead for his side on 16 minutes but this was soon cancelled out by a point from Murphy as Barry O’Mahony picked out the Sligo team captain.
Both sides were guilty of missed placed balls, as well as turnovers by both sets of players, as both teams failed to score for the remaining 13 minutes of play in the half to leave it at 0-2 apiece at the break.
Shamrock Gaels, who now had the aid of breeze in the second-half, got the first three points of the half, with Patrick Kenny among the scores, to lead 0-5 to 0-2 after 36 minutes.
The turning point arrived five minutes later when wing-forward Leo Doherty picked up a straight red card after the incident involving Conor Sheridan, who also picked up a yellow card in the process.
Player of the match Ciaran Kenny then added a point for Gaels, who had two of his brothers also playing in the winning Shamrock Gaels side, Niall and Patrick. Their brother, soccer star Johnny, was unable to make the game as he was involved with Celtic.
Niall Murphy helped to keep his side in the match as he landed a two-point free to reduce the margin to just two with 13 minutes left.
Shamrock Gaels showed great composure after that two-pointer as they replied with three on the spin, all coming from boot of captain David Quinn.
Coolera-Strandhill were trying to get themselves back into the game but they conceded a further 1-1, with the goal coming on 59 minutes as Oran Harte was caught in possession and Deignan finished to the net.
Murphy added two further two pointers from frees before the end, but it wasn’t going be the North Sligo side’s day, as they conceded a second goal before the end as Kenny came right through the Coolera-Strandhill defence before passing the ball across to Deignan who fired to the net.
This resulted ended Coolera-Strandhill’s reign as Sligo and Connacht champions and now Shamrock Gaels will now head into the provincial championship and a meeting with Moycullen in the quarter-final on the weekend of November 8/9.
Scorers – Shamrock Gaels: Shane Deignan 2-0-3; David Quinn 0-0-3 (2f), Niall Kenny, Karl McKenna, Ciaran Kenny, Patrick Kenny and Sean Carroll 0-0-1 each.
Coolera-Strandhill: Niall Murphy 0-3-2 (3tpf).
Shamrock Gaels: Daniel Lyons; Oisin Conlon, Evan Lyons, Daniel King; Karl McKenna, Ciaran Kenny, Patrick Kenny; Conor Sheridan, Dillon McDermott; Niall Kenny, Lee Deignan, George Barlow; Shane Deignan, David Quinn, James Foley. Sub: Sean Carroll (for Foley 44).
Coolera-Strandhill: Keelan Harte; Jonathan Cassidy, Conor McDonagh, Sean Murphy; Oran Harte, Peter Laffey, Cathal Gilligan; Kevin Banks, Mark McDaniel; Leo Doherty, Barry O’Mahony, Ross Doherty; Keelan Cawley, Niall Murphy, Conor Burke. Subs: Cormac Murphy (for Cawley 43), Cillian O’Neill (for S Murphy 46), Hugh Rooney (for Cassidy 57).
REF: Barry Judge (Castleconnor).
